Chapter Three
Ana’s fingers trembledslightly as she unpacked the small satchel that all of her belongings were in. She lifted out her garments, each piece folded with care, and placed them one by one into the empty dresser that stood against the wall. She only had two dresses so there wasn’t much to put away. She would have to ask the doctor for money to buy fabric to make more, and she prayed it wouldn’t upset him. If it did, she and her sisters still had the money their mother had given them for train fare, but she liked the idea of holding that in reserve, just in case something happened.
Ana paused. She took in the modest room with its sparse furnishings and the quilted bedspread. The weight of her past, the loss of her mother, and the ache of separation from her sisters pressed on her chest. For the first time in a long while, she felt the stirrings of peace.
She stepped lightly down the narrow hallway, drawn by the low glow beneath the study door. Dr. Mercer sat there, his figure bent over piles of medical records and journals. His pen moved with steady purpose, and she sensed the silent strength that drove him to continue working for the sake of Hope Springs’ residents.
“Mind if I join you?” Her voice was soft.
He looked up, his eyes holding the warmth of a hearth fire. “Please,” he said, motioning to the chair beside him.
She settled into the seat, folding her hands in her lap as she observed him return to his work. She needed to get to know him better. What had made him want to be a doctor? What made him work so hard for his patients?
He picked up one of the instruments and showed it to her. “This is a stethoscope,” he explained, his voice a calm current in the stillness. “It lets us hear the sounds of the heart and lungs.”
He slowly went through each of his instruments and let her touch them. Each item he passed into her care carried its own tale of healing, of hope wrestled from the clutches of illness.
“I’ll need you to keep the instruments clean for me, and at times act as my nurse,” he said.
“Thank you,” Anabelle murmured, “for trusting me with this.” She’d always hated that she hadn’t been allowed to have a formal education, and she loved that he was teaching her now. Acting as a nurse seemed to be a way she could pay him back for his generosity in helping her escape from her father’s clasp.
When he felt she’d learned enough, the two of them made their way to the modest bedroom they now shared. They lay down, side by side.
It felt strange to Ana to be in a bed with anyone but her sisters, but she knew it was her role to share a bed with him, even if she was frightened. She could already see he was a good man, which helped her not worry quite so much.
Sleep beckoned, but Ana lingered in wakefulness, savoring the solace found in her companion’s nearness. In the hush of night, amid the ghosts of a day’s end, she allowed herself a fragile hope. Perhaps this was the place where she and her sisters would find true joy. Even if they didn’t, they were at least beyond the reach of their father and his fists.
“William,” she whispered, her voice barely rising above the stillness. His name felt new on her lips.
Dr. Mercer turned to her, his eyes questioning. “Yes, Ana?”
She swallowed hard, her hands clasped together in her lap as if they could steady the fluttering within. “Would it be all right if we—if we waited? To—to consummate our marriage?” The words tumbled out, and she blushed when she heard her voice speak them aloud.
A softness entered his gaze, the edges of his eyes crinkling with empathy. “Of course,” he replied, his voice a balm to her racing thoughts. “I never imagined that I would have a wedding night with a woman I’d just met.”
Anabelle nodded. “It’s very strange,” she began again, her voice steadier now, “My sisters— we’re triplets. Izzy, Rosie, and I. We’ve never spent a night apart, always sharing whispers until sleep took us.” Her eyes misted over, the memory a stark contrast to the solitude of this new room. “It feels strange, being without them, like a piece of my soul is missing.”
William reached out, his hand covering hers.
William’s gaze held her own, steady and certain. “We’ll find your sisters,” he said, his voice low but resolute in the dim light. “I know the men they were promised to. Good, honest men. We’re all friends and agreed to send off for mail-order brides together. I’m pleased we all married sisters because that will only strengthen our bond with one another.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, the weight of loneliness beginning to lift from her shoulders. The promise of reuniting with Izzy and Rosie was one she’d needed to hear.
She nestled deeper into the quilts that adorned their shared bed, drawing comfort from their warmth. Her eyelids grew heavy, the events of the day—the vows exchanged, the journey made—catching up to her at last. She turned slightly, feeling William’s presence beside her, a solid, reassuring constant in this new world.
As sleep beckoned, her mind wandered through the streets of Hope Springs, imagining her sisters nearby, laughter mingling with the crisp mountain air. A smile graced her lips as she succumbed to dreams. Here she and her sisters would still be part of one another’s lives, and they would be happy.
*****
THE SUN WASN’T UP YETwhen Ana climbed from the warmth of her bed. Her feet touched the cold wooden floor, and she suppressed a shiver as she wrapped her shawl tighter around her slender shoulders. She moved through the quiet rooms, her heart heavy with thoughts of days long past.
The quiet in this house should have felt the same as the constant quiet in the house where she’d grown up. But there, she’d had her sisters whispering with her, and here...she was alone. But there was no waiting for the yells that would punctuate her father’s moods. Instead, she could simply move about without fear. Well, she could move about. The fear would eventually leave her. She hoped.
She walked into the kitchen and looked through the cabinets, familiarizing herself with how it was set up. With practiced motions, she stoked the fire in the stove and set a skillet atop it. Eggs lay on the counter, next to a loaf of bread. She cracked them one by one into the sizzling pan.
William, roused by the sounds and smells of breakfast, joined her in the kitchen. His hair was tousled from sleep, his eyes soft with the vulnerability that morning often brings. “Smells delightful,” he commented, a gentle smile gracing his lips as he watched her flip the eggs with a deft flick of her wrist.
“Thank you,” Ana replied. A small pride fluttered in her chest. She was not used to receiving compliments, and it made her feel like she could stand a little taller.
